Thursday, June 30, 2011

Redeemer

I've seen how God has redeemed marriages that looked like there was no way they would survive. I've also seen how He has redeemed certain dates on the calendar--replacing the anniversary of a friend's divorce with a new proposal and changing a date marked to remember a death to a date to celebrate the life of a newborn. But I never suspected He would redeem other insignificant events.

Remember back when I tried to go to a Green River Ordinance concert but couldn't make myself go in because there were no assigned seats? If not, the recap is here.

Not too long after that, I heard that GRO was playing a free concert at a church here in town on a Friday evening. One band was going to open for them, and then GRO was going to take the stage about 8 p.m. I knew that after a long day at work, it would be hard to stay for long after 8 p.m., but I thought I'd at least get to hear a few of their songs.

On the night of the concert, to my delight, they announced that GRO would be playing first. I was able to see their whole show for free. It may seem small and insignificant, but to me, it was a reminder that God sees and hears our smallest desires. It was a redeeming concert just for me, by His grace alone.

Monday, June 6, 2011

The Gifts of Family, Food, & Fun

Though I haven't blogged about it recently, my list of gifts continues. The list grew exponentially after spending the past week with my family.

Getting to see both my mom and sister other than the holidays is a treat because our work schedules don't always coincide. But the extra planning that went into getting us together for the week of Memorial Day was well worth it. I only wish there were more pictures to capture all the gifts we shared over this week.

771. Safe, timely travel by train

772. Laughter with Mom and Erin

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775. Games with family

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777. Family nap time

778. Homemade chocolate chess pie

779. Watching Tiffany D make-up videos with Erin

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781. Getting an eye appointment with my childhood optometrist and eye drops that cure eye infections

782. Skip Bo at Nona's

783. Thank-you text from a friend

784. Going through childhood jewelry boxes to find "treasures" like old fortunes from Chinese restaurants

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786. Rolling Erin's hair on hot rollers

787. Erin applying my make-up

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789. Fish tacos at the lake



790. Hotel room with perfect view of the Austin bats (only we never saw them!)

791. Breakfast at Trio with pancakes that Wolfgang Puck raved about

792. Whipped sweet potatoes from Galaxy Cafe

793. Home Slice Pizza

794. Catching up with Erin's friend

795. Sustaining energy to attend conference despite lack of sleep, a rash, a fever, and a raging sinus infection

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797. Awesome lunch at East Side Cafe

798. Safe travel from Austin back to hometown

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800. Sleeping in my childhood bed

801 & 802. Wearing hats to a tea and hearing stories of redemption at the Christian Women's Job Corps



803. More games

804. Safe travel back

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806 807. Having a friend pick me up at the train station and bringing me home so that I wouldn't have to face an empty house (1st trip since Annie passed away)